Pre-moistened and disposable towelettes impregnated with a cleaning solution, a disinfectant solution or other surfactant are well known in the marketplace for sanitizing one's hands and other surfaces and are often called “wet wipes” or simply “wipes.” However, any number of other personal, household and automotive purposes and applications are also well known for such products and the present invention is not limited to any specific purpose, use or application. For example, it can be drawn to dispensers for hand sanitizing wipes just as well as automotive detailing wipes. It is also to be noted that the terms “wipes”, “wet wipes” and “towelettes” are used interchangeably within this disclosure and are not limiting in any way. Those terms are construed herein to mean “a premoistened paper or fiber towel.”
Wet wipe dispensing products are desirable because they are portable and well known to provide a user with the convenience of opening the dispenser, pulling one or more wet wipes from the dispenser and then closing the dispenser for later use and anticipated preservation of the remaining wipes within the dispenser. Inside the container, the wipes are typically wound into a continuous roll of partially perforated and liquid-saturated or moistened wipes, with the wipes being pulled and unwound from the center of the roll. The wipes are most often pulled through an opening disposed in the top of the dispenser. The “pull through” opening comprises structure that provides sufficient resistance on dispensed wipes such that the leading wipe tears away from the next following wipe and enables full separation between adjacent or sequential wipes. This opening then exposes only a small portion of the next following wipe, such wipe portion being large enough to be grasped and pulled by the user, but small enough to avoid exposure of that wipe to substantial evaporation of liquid from a significant portion of the wipe. This process can be repeated until all wipes in the container have been dispensed. Such wipes may also be layered or grouped in some other fashion where the wipes are not wound into a roll.
It is also well known that the dispenser containers themselves can be formed in virtually any shape including, without limitation, round cylinders, oval containers, square boxes, etc. and the present invention is not limited in this regard. Irrespective of the shape of the dispenser container, one common problem persists with all such dispensers in applications where the wet wipes are not frequently or continuously used. That problem, as alluded to above, is the evaporation of the moisture that is captured within the wipes, which evaporation happens over time, thereby drying out the wipes and making them unsuitable for their intended use. Such “moisture evaporation sites” typically include two primary structural interfaces that are inherent in this type of wipe dispensing product.
The first moisture evaporation site is at the interface where a primary cover is attached to a main container body, which cover may be screwed onto or snapped onto the main container body. This effectively “captures” and holds the wipes within the container, but not necessarily in an airtight fashion. The second site is at the interface where a typically smaller secondary flip up cover “snap” fits to the container cover, the flip up cover being hingedly secured to the primary container cover. This is not necessarily an airtight seal either and can lead to liquid evaporation where the flip up secondary cover is not closed completely or even when the cover is closed completely as intended simply because a small gap may present itself at this interface.
Therefore, in the experience of the inventor, there is need for an improved wipes dispenser cover that reduces the evaporation rate of liquid held within the moistened wipes and thereby extends the useful life of the dispenser and its contents. As alluded to at the outset, however, it is to be understood that the anti-evaporation cap cover of the present invention can be used with any container where the intended or desired use is to prevent evaporation of moisture from moistened items, materials or substances stored in the container in any number of product applications.